


Vow

by msgenevieve



Category: Prison Break
Genre: Canon, F/M, Het, Missing Scene, References to Addiction, References to Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-27
Updated: 2009-01-27
Packaged: 2017-10-14 09:31:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msgenevieve/pseuds/msgenevieve
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes he thinks he only opens his mouth in order to lie. (Spoilers for #414 "Just Business".)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rosie_spleen](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=rosie_spleen).



> For rosie_spleen, because she is awesome. This isn't the cheeriest of fics, but it's what wanted to be written, and I think I spy a glimmer of hope at the end.

 

  
~*~  


 

  
~*~  


He tears the swab open, and the scent of pure alcohol hits his nose, a smell he will forever associate with falling in love.

The irony is not lost on him.

His brother has gone, closing the door behind him. There is a kind of peace between them now, an uneasy truce, but Michael’s heartbeat still leaps at the slightest sound, his pulse thrumming as the warehouse creaks around him. As he reaches for the syringe and vial he'd hidden from Lincoln, he suddenly thinks of Sara.

Is this how she used to feel?

Barricaded in an empty washroom, her sleeve rolled tight around her elbow, the swipe of alcohol cool on her skin, her fingers wrapped around a syringe as disposable as the escape it would offer her? Afraid of being discovered, secretly wishing the door would open and a shocked cry would smash the thin armor of lies and denial she’d wrapped around herself?

Sara Tancredi is a different woman now. She refuses to hide behind denial. She refuses to lie to him. He closes his eyes, a sensation that feels a lot like shame pricking at his conscience.

He is different, too.

In another life, he had begged her not to make him lie to her. Now, in this life, all he seems to do is murmur half-truths and blanket statements, mouthing unrelenting lip service that only serves to push her further away when all he wants so desperately is to keep her close.

The needle slides painlessly beneath his skin as he injects the nerve suppressant, and he can’t help wondering if all those months of watching Sara as she administered his insulin shot have stood him in good stead.

Then again, maybe he’s just numb.

When it’s over, he shoves the syringe and the swab deep into the trash can. He doubts anyone will be going through the garbage, but he’s learned never to leave anything to chance. When he emerges from the washroom, the stale scent of the infirmary is still in his head, the ghostly memory of Sara’s gloved hand on his skin.

Across the floor of the warehouse, her gaze finds his with an accuracy that slows his feet. _Doctor Sara Tancredi_ , he thinks, _the most important thing he ever left to chance_. She smiles, a soft, sad curving of her lips, and the small alcohol-smudged patch of skin on his arm seems to tingle.

She watches him as he makes his way to her side, her hand coming up to rest on his hip, the gesture as light and natural as it always is. It’s as though their earlier harsh exchange never happened, and her silent forgiveness makes him irritated and ashamed in the same heartbeat.

“You okay?”

He looks at her, and sees both his future and his past, and realises there is no running from either. All he needs is this one last thing, and then he will fall on his knees before her and tell her everything that's hammering inside his head. He can’t bring himself to smile, not with the acrid tang of his latest lie still burning in his nose, but he covers her hand with his, her warm fingers instantly erasing the feel of the cold syringe.

Her hand tightens around his. "Michael?"

 _Don’t make me lie to you._

“I'm fine.”


End file.
